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"Dance Moms" star Abby Lee Miller doesn't give a rat's behind what you think of her sometimes harsh way of teaching the young wannabes at her Pittsburgh dancing school, E! News reports.

"You know, the criticism is from the dance community and they're all just jealous that they don't have a show," Miller said at the Teen Choice Awards in Universal City, Calif.

Oh?

"Come on," she said, "if Lifetime approached them, you don't think they would have said 'Yes'?"

In February, "Dancing With the Stars" pros Derek Hough and Mark Ballas took to Twitter to voice their (very strong) disapproval of Miller's teaching methods.

"I'm sorry but this Dance mom show is straight up abusive," Hough tweeted. "Kids Run !!!!!! It ain't right. Child abuse isn't right. I'm livid right now ... [There's] nothing productive about screaming and making little girls cry over being on the wrong foot."

Describing Miller as "crazy," Ballas tweeted, "Dance is meant to be fun and inspirational, not abusive. Kids are impressionable and I don't want young children being afraid to take up dance because of this lady."

Despite what we may see on the show (screaming fights, anyone?), Miller insists she actually stays out of the mommy drama. "I have to or I would lose my flippin' mind," she said. "I've been doing this for 30 years and before there wasn't one mom that traveled with us. The kids all had their money in an envelope and we left and we were gone all summer. We'd be in Orlando, Vegas, L.A. and so on."

Yes, some were with her and walking the pink carpet at Teen Choice.

But Miller is willing to put up with her critics and the clients because of, well, the paycheck.

Asked how much longer she'd want to do the Lifetime show, Miller howled, "Until I pay everything off."

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Described by the judge as possessing a soul "as barren as dark space," William Balfour was sentenced Tuesday to three life sentences for the 2008 murders of Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother and nephew.

"You have the heart of an arctic night," Cook County Circuit Judge Charles Burns told Hudson's former brother-in-law during the sentencing in a Chicago courtroom.

Hudson, the first witness at the trial, sat in court next to her sister -- Balfour's former wife and the mother of the youngest victim, 7-year-old Julian King -- and dabbed her eyes with a tissue.

In a brief statement, Balfour, 31, who was convicted in May, said, "My deepest prayers goes out to Julian King."

"I loved him," he said. "I still love him. I'm innocent, your honor."

The judge later responded, "The fact that you can stand in court and tell us you love that child is an insult to all of us."

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The newest face at the judges' table is taking home the biggest paycheck.

Mariah Carey, who has officially signed on to join "American Idol," will reportedly earn about $18 million for the season.

"Her deal is rumored to be just under $18 million for one year with an option to renew," a source familiar with the negotiation tells People.

Carey, 42, will reportedly be the highest paid judge on any reality show.

With Jennifer Lopez -- whose exit had nothing to do with dollar signs, said a source -- Steven Tyler and potentially Randy Jackson out of the mix, Carey's panel companions (and their pay rates) have yet to be confirmed. "It's gonna be so much fun working on @AmericanIdol," Carey Tweeted Monday when her new gig was made official. "As a singer-songwriter, I'm excited to help find and nurture new talent."

And Carey isn't the only one who pulls in serious pay on reality TV. According to reports, Christina Aguilera will make about $10 million on the third season of "The Voice." Howard Stern's turn as a judge on "America's Got Talent" came with a $15 million paycheck.

Money aside, Carey is "totally elated," adds the source. "She's in the studio, and she's getting ready to record the video for her new single, "Triumphant" -- certainly an appropriate title, and it was written before the deal."

n"I think [Mariah] is going to find it difficult to say no."

That's Simon Cowell's take on the news that broke Monday that Mariah Carey is joining "American Idol." Game on!

Simon, Britney Spears, Demi Lovato and L.A. Reid hit the TV Critics Association press tour (via satellite from Miami) and dropped insight into the new "X Factor," including what Britney and Demi are really like as judges, and what's up with the casting of the hosts, E! News reports.

"I'm happy for her," Simon said of Mariah's "Idol" casting. "I like Mariah. I think she's going to find it difficult to say 'No.' You've got to say no to people. And she's sweet."

Simon made it clear that his female judge picks, Britney and Demi, will not have the same problem.

"They are harder to please than me or L.A.," Cowell says of Britney and Demi. "They are very happy, these two, in giving people a no. That's why we hired them."

Simon also revealed Britney has always topped his fantasy judge list: "Britney, I'm not going to lie about this, I always said the number one person I would want on one of these shows was Britney because I was fascinated with her as a person, as a pop star ... She's a really, really good judge."

"Demi is a brat," Simon continued, "but there's something really likable about her as well. I think the show, because it has such a young audience, it needed someone younger."

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Just days after matriarch Katherine Jackson was reported missing -- and then located in Arizona -- the Jackson family seems to be facing more drama after police were called to the family home on Monday, People reports.

The L.A. Sheriff's department responded to a family disturbance call at Katherine's home on Monday afternoon after Janet, Randy and Jermaine Jackson reportedly tried to take Michael Jackson's children Prince, Paris and Blanket from the compound.

"Deputies determined that a physical altercation had occurred of misdemeanor battery," said L.A. Sheriff spokesman Steve Whitmore. "It involved members of the Jackson family. A report was taken. No arrests were made, and the investigation is ongoing."

Whitmore confirmed that the altercation involved "two people," although he did not specify which two. He did add, "If we thought an arrest should have been made, we would have made it."

Still, Katherine's travels and the recent skirmish seem to point to mounting tensions in the Jackson family, as five of Michael's siblings are claiming his will was a fake; that Katherine, 82, was being manipulated; and the executors of Michael's estate should step down. (Michael's estate is currently valued at more than $1 billion.)

"They will not stand down, because the siblings who were left out of Michael's will want them to," said Zia Modabber, attorney of the Jackson estate, according to an ABC News report.

Katherine's lawyer, Sandra L. Ribera, issued a statement Tuesday, saying, "Jackson family members ambushed Katherine Jackson's home after their vehicle tore through security gates on the tails of the SUV containing Michael Jackson's children."

John McClain and John Branca, the executors of Michael Jackson's estate, are reportedly going to seek guardianship of Michael's three children, reports TMZ. A lawyer for the executors has denied that claim, though.

Last week's missing person's report, filed by Katherine's nephew Trent Jackson, was later blasted by Jermaine, who said in a statement: "It dismays me that such an alarmist "missing person" report has caused unnecessary anxiety among Michael's children who will understandably react to what they misunderstand, hear or are told."

A statement released by Katherine's children Monday claimed that the missing person's report was "created by the very person and persons we are trying to protect our mother from." (Katherine, who is the legal guardian of Michael's three children, was said to be with her daughter Rebbie in Arizona during the time she was "reported" missing.)

As a source told People: "They don't feel Trent is holding the kids there against their will. They just want Trent away from Katherine. But when they went there to try and get the kids, it was a fight."